Age is just a number to me. It doesn’t determine what I can do. In 1993, at age 46, I ran my first Houston Marathon after being trained for three months with my late husband and PowerLung co-inventor, Barry Jarvis. Fast forward to 2014, age 67; I started training for the 2015 Houston Marathon.
The goal in 1993 was to finish before they took the clock down at 5 hours. That was before Mr. Jarvis, and I invented PowerLung in 1999. I completed the run with a lot of support from friends and crowds along the way at 4:54:06. Somehow that first finish time just sticks in your mind!
My goals for the 2015 Houston Marathon were set and training began in December after the passing of Mr. Jarvis in 2013. This time I called it an attempt to challenge myself to lose some extra pounds, get back in shape after a couple of years of neglect and somewhat in honor of his spirit to keep going and training to keep yourself the best possible. The time goal again was to finish before they took the clock down. In October 2014 as part of my training to run Houston Marathon 2015, I ran the Houston Half Marathon. My goal was to complete it in less than 3 hours. Well, I made it in 3:06. I was going to have to do some additional speed work. Somehow it seemed such an accomplishment to have just achieved this milestone that I lost my spirit for training and unfortunately did not run Houston Marathon 2015.
One commitment I have always kept since we invented it, is using my PowerLung. Oh, I have spells like every other PowerLung user where I slack off, but I always come back – usually within a week. One thing I learned out of both of these events is you can reach your goals if you set them and make a real commitment to work on them. The first time I finished with a better time than my goal – I’ve always thought I could have done a minute or 2 better with a bit more commitment. The second time, I met a training goal but not my ultimate goal because I only said I would attempt, not I would run.
So, if you set your goal to improve your breathing to help you do better at whatever activity you choose, and you do it, you can achieve, regardless of your age. I know there are people who do these without PowerLung assistance, but it was so much easier to do the training because I use PowerLung. I hope you will join me in following Mr. Jarvis’ and my philosophy to stay as active as possible for as long as possible in mind, body, and spirit. Stay active at EVERY age!
#TBT #HoustonMarathon
